The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Friday, October 18, 2013

Art? What is it good for? Absolutely somethin'!

       What is art? Is a canvas that is simply painted black, but with some texture added...is that art? Is a large, mounded-up circle of rocks--is that art? Is a chair art?

       According to the St. Louis Art Museum, all of the above is considered art worthy of a display. And if you were to engage in a hands-on activity to create a bit of modern art, perhaps your definition of what is "art" might be transformed...

      Last Saturday I spent four hours at the museum with my granddaughter. A huge addition to the museum is no longer particularly new for our city but it was new to me. One of my favorite pieces--"Keith"--is too large to have always been displayed in the past, but now has a permanent place to hang his head on. I was eager to see him again.

     Oh, you've never met Keith? Here he is.

"Keith" by Chuck Close

      This snapshot that I stole off the internet because I cannot find the USB cord for my phone and I've tried a multitude of cords, trying to jam them into the phone's orifice, to no avail does not do the piece justice. It's a self-portrait by Chuck Close (yeah, I know, I'm not sure why it has that title) , is huge-huge-huge and looks like a photograph. You can see the pores of his skin, individual whiskers--it's amazing. (Chuck Close is now paralyzed--a quadriplegic, I believe--but still creates art. It's different, but cool nonetheless.)

       Before dragging Riley to the new wing so we both could spray spittle all over the place in excitement, she did some sketches of pieces that caught her eye. Anselm Kiefer's enormous sculpture titled "Breaking of the Vessels," inspired by Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass" in Germany) was the first. She spent almost half an hour painstakingly recreating Kiefer's work with pencil and paper.

      Oh, you haven't seen this piece, either?  Take a gander...and then keep on reading.

Anselm Kiefer's "Breaking of the Vessels"

       What you cannot see (very clearly) is that this sculpture is surrounded by broken glass all over the floor. Kiefer came and installed it, after questioning their choice of placement (museum muckety-mucks had chosen a spot on an upper floor, and this piece is massively heavy). "Are you sure this is where you want it?" he asked. Once in place, the officials (probably all men ;) determined the piece needed more support and needed to be moved to the main floor. Kiefer refused to fly back, (I imagine he at least was thinking, 'I told you so.') so the staff had to meticulously diagram where every shard of glass was on the floor and then rearrange it in the same way in its (now permanent--whew) new home. 

     I used to think that ultra-modern pieces like paintings made simply with squares of blue and red and yellow arranged on a white canvas--I used to think they weren't really "art." I mean, how hard could that be? If I had a ruler or some masking tape, I could do it. But when I took a "Teaching Art" class to become a teacher, the instructor took our scoffing selves and gave us each an envelope full of construction paper rectangles and squares--red, blue and yellow ones--and told us to create a piece of art. My snarky self thought it would take seven seconds...and yet twenty minutes later, I was still arranging and rearranging the pieces. It certainly wasn't as easy as I had thought.

      It was a wonderful way to spend our day, and perhaps some day, when I find the cord that can be properly jammed into my phone, allowing me to retrieve the pictures I took, I will share my own photos.

     How do you define art? 

    

24 comments:

  1. How wonderful that you took your granddaughter to the art museum. It is such a beautiful and an inspiring place to visit--a true gem for St. Louis.
    Your mention of the Kristallnacht reminded me of the Holocaust Museum in St. Louis County--another inspiring place to visit.

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    1. Donna--I have not been there, but since you're recommending it, the museum must be a worthwhile place to go.

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  2. I love this art museum....used to go when we lived in St. Louis..and have made a few return visits...one about two years ago. Sounds like you had one great day.

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    1. Caudia--Yes, we had a marvelous day, and it IS a gem in St. Louis' crown...

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  3. Picasso: art is a lie that lets us see the truth (paraphrasing and condensing mightily, there)--always worked for me. I used to ask my remedial English community college students to write a little essay about that. We had fun. My, how long ago that was.

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    1. Joanne--I appreciate the condensation. ;)

      What a mind-blowing idea...and so true. Thanks for the enlightenment and the comment.

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  4. That's a much better title than "Art and Peace."

    I've been to the St. Louis Art Museum one time. It was quite a while ago, when my stepsons were young and impressionable. You might say it had a big influence on me. I don't mean to brag*, but I am in high demand when teams are chosen for Pictionary.

    Other than that, the zenith of my art career was a pencil drawing (with appropriate shading, of course) of quail walking in the snow. A friend of my mom bought it and hung it in her living room. There's no accounting for some people's taste.

    And while I'm hijacking your blog, let me furthermore reveal that when I want a picture from my phone, I email it to myself, save it in "pictures," and then retrieve it for my blog. Because I don't understand those wirey cabley funny-ended thingies. Whatever happened to the camera that saved your pics on 3.5" floppy disks?

    *oh, yes I do

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    1. Whatever happened to those cameras that spit out a white picture, and you had to shake it! shake it! shake it! shake it ! shake it! shake it like a polaroid picture?

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  5. Laffin @ the all male officials in their great wizdumb!

    PS--my post about Poe was true.

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    1. Shay--I figured. The stuff you write about that seems the most ludicrous but has a whiff of truth/history to it...invariably it's true.

      Wizdumb. I'm sure that's a familiar phrase for most, but it's new to me.

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  6. I keep my art simple. If I can tell what I'm looking at, it's pretty good art. :-)

    (Have you read The Book Thief, by the way? It's considered juvenile fiction, but oh, my, what a book. Kristallnacht reminded me of it.)

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    1. Cathy--I have heard that's a great book, but haven't gotten to it yet. Thanks for the nudge to read it...

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  7. Cool post, Sioux. Art to me is like music---if I like it it's art, if I don't it isn't. LOL

    Seriously, though, as a creative individual I don't scoff at the ways in which others explore and share their inner vision. Last night at dinner my youngest daughter made an offhand remark about about how she doesn't like to write. I've known that, of course, but every time she says it I cringe. Anyway, last night I commented back to her that maybe the hospital sent the wrong baby home after she was born because, clearly, she doesn't share my genetic makeup, and she put me in my place. "Mama," she said. "I got all your creative genes, every one, but when they came through to me they twisted from verbal to visual. I'm your flip side." She's in her sophomore year at SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) working toward her BA in photography. And, drat, the little booger is right. So, all of that to say that the beauty of art in all its forms is that it resonates differently for each of us, and no one way is more valid than another. The real gift is our freedom to express what is inside of us.

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    1. Lisa--

      Aaah...Grasshopper* has grown up, and for one brief moment, the student became the teacher.

      We've all seen a bit of your daughter's work. She got your wicked-writing talent genes, for sure...

      * a reference to the way-corny TV show "Kung Fu" with David Carradine, if you were lucky enough to have missed it

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  8. My definition of art has broadened along with the rest of me as I age. I now think of it as just about anything that moves another person in some way (okay, other than the literal). How cool that you and Riley are creating your own artful memories! Chuck Close has a great name for his artwork, and I admire his close self-examination. I pluck my eyebrows in a mirror that doesn't get cleaned very often in order to protect myself from viewing my pores.

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    1. Tammy--I agree. That is one case where "splatter" from toothbrushing is a good thing.

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  9. I think art is anything one creates with love...

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    1. Lynn--That is quite an answer. So I guess if I made a cake and after I frosted it, the cake looked horrendous, if I made it with love, it would be art?

      I love it!

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  10. Such a hard question, Sioux. ;) I define art as something someone creates--my daughter creates art. So does a street vendor. And so does a professional artist. And I think the saying BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is definitely true when looking at some art. (PS: I hope you find your cord. We have the same problem at this house.)

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    1. Margo--Maybe your cord is at my house and my cord is at your house?

      In the interim, Val commented that she emails the pictures from her phone to herself, and that worked out well. So, perhaps, I can live without having to hire an excavation team to unearth the cord...

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  11. My definition of "art" has also evolved to include what I don't understand or care about. Art is an attempt at communication, and that's a good thing. I've been involved lately with writing poems or prose to pair with pieces of visual art and that has been a blast. Now I'm even judging said works! Getting to know visual artists and listening to their voices as they express themselves with the spoken word has been fun and enlightening. It's like we're all one giant team of creativity.

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    1. Marcia--You are sooo right. Uniting the written word and the visual art can be oodles of fun. And often, it leads to surprises...

      (And hey, if we're all one "team," can I share in some of those writing prizes you've snagged? C'mon, team mate.)

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  12. It's been forever since I've visited the art museum. Used to go at least once a year, and loved it. For me, art is a creative piece that catches my attention and speaks to me in some way.

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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    1. Pat--I liked the two components you mentioned--attention-getting and beckoning...

      You should go. The expansion is interesting. And it's such a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. (Take a notebook. You might get some writing done.)

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Thanks for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by...